Epiphone Hummingbird Acoustic Guitar - Aged Cherry Sunburst Gloss Reviews

I am a professional player performing 50+ gigs a year and was in search of new heavy strummer with nice tone and feel. I wasn't aware of these guitars a few years when doint a search for a backup guitar for gigs. I had not really looked Epiphone's way until I recently came across them online. I watched and listed to many reviews on their entire line of inspired by Gibson series. They absolutely nailed it. The feel and the tone are exemplary not to mention the classic look and finish. You are basically buying a Gibson Hummingbird but saving yourself literally thousands of dollars. It came packed and set up beautifully. The electronic pick up sounds nice and it has done well on the road so far. No regrets and would buy one again. Buy it, play it, love it.

This is a gift for my husband's bathday. The guitar is absolutely beautiful, of excellent quality, and produces incredible sounds. My husband plays it every day, and he is truly delighted to own such a wonderful instrument. The communication, packaging, shipping, and item itself were all perfect.

I received My guitar in the that it was supposed to be delivered. When I opened it and I instantly felt the nice neck and the size of the guitar. With just a little tunning, it was ready to play. What I like about it is so easy to play because the string are so close to the fret board. It sure does have a great base sound on the top strings, and I am enjoying playing it every day. Thanks Sweetwater for the 55 point inspection.
I will being using Sweetwater again for My Music needs.
Phil,

Reason I am adding review early. Played one down in Nashville. I was blown away. I have never owned the Gibson Hummingbird.
Got a friend that owns one. Every time I have played his I go away sad, because I have always wanted to have one of my own. However, Family comes first. It was always wishful thinking on my part. When I saw that Epiphone had a model at a third of the price of Gibson's. This is my chance. Felt froggy and jumped on it' I feel good about taking the leap. The best mid priced guitars in my opinion are the Epiphone line of acoustics. I have owned several and I have a Masterbilt that sounds and plays very good. Do I need another acoustic. Yeah, I do!

I opened my Hummingbird this morning after 17 hours that felt like years to acclimate, I couldn't believe the sound and how smooth the action is! like playing an electric guitar. So Beautiful, I love the Aged Cherry Sunburst Gloss finish! Thank you Sweetwater and Corey for the 59 point Inspection you guys did before shipping! this needs no adjustments it's perfect played right out of the Box kept its tune the whole trip to California in perfect condition! A must buy can't get better than this. I'm so glad I didn't spend $ On the Gibson. I will treasure this for life! Thank you again Sweetwater you guys Rock!
Craig

This guitar has the look, sound and feel of a vintage Gibson without the problems associated with a 40 year old instrument.

If you love the sound of:
Paul's Epiphone Texan on "Yesterday" -
Donovan's J-45 on "Hurdy Gurdy Man" -
Keith's Hummingbird on "Angie" -
you're going to love this guitar!

The DNA of the full-bodied Gibson/Epiphone line is here, in spades. Like any all-solid wood guitar, the more I play it, the better it sounds.

They should change the slogan "Inspired by Gibson" to "A Wonderful Gift From Gibson", because you're getting way more than your money's worth out of this line!

I bought this Demo model for my daughter. The minute I pulled it out of the box. I could not believe what I was hearing. My son was here and he also plays, and as I started playing, he looked at me and said. WHAT! You bought a Gibson Hummingbird!! I said no dude it is an Epiphone Hummingbird… he grabbed it from me and started playing and went. Oh my!!! I want this guitar!!! You bought this for Katelyn… Dad what! I can't say enough about it. What I can say is my daughter hasn't played it yet, but I sure have ;) The warm tone that this guitar has and its playability is amazing. I LOVE IT! If you are considering buying an inspired by Gibson, Epiphone, don't hesitate!

And once again, I can't say enough about my Sales Engineer, Zack Davidson's customer service and attention to detail. He adds so much to the experience with his knowledge of the instruments, as well as the human touch that he provides from the beginning to the end of the sales process. Thank you, Zack! Sweetwater you've got a good one in Zack!!

Thank you Zack and thank you Sweetwater!

Bryan Tolbert
Hendersonville, NC

Shoutout to Brad! Made things easy and steered me to the right amplifier.Great fast shipping! Love the guitar & amplifier Will continue shopping with Sweeter for all my needs.Highly Recommended!

I am not sure of what to say other than this is the sweetest playing and sounding guitar I have ever owned. Disclaimer, I have not owned any high end Gibson or Martin , but I have owned guitars up to $ and this is the best by far. I couldn't be more happy. FYI, I did have Sweetwater set it up for my playing style prior to shipping and I also bought the Epiphone case which was only about $.

No faint praise here by saying "it's a good guitar for the money." If I was forced to think in dollar terms, I would say it's a great guitar for the money. I already had a "Made in Bozeman" hummingbird and I'll admit I bought the Epiphone so I didn't have to treat it like a $3000+ guitar. But after playing it, I immediately bought it a case and will give it the respect I would give any guitar I like a lot, regardless of cost. My two hummingbirds are definitely of the same family. I inspected the interior bracing, and they are largely identical in general layout and size. The Epiphones braces are shaved slightly less and the Gibson's, but I would not call it "overbuilt". As for sound, again it is clear they are of the same family. The Bozeman guitar might be a little louder, a little more harmonically rich. The Epiphone is somehow, a bit more focused. Of course, even identical guitars will sound different and "better" is objective. My Gibson is 10 years older than the Epiphone and has been played a lot, so there's a difference right there. I have done quite a bit of recording and if I was going into the studio for myself, I might choose either one depending on how I thought they would sound on the track. If I had a paying client looking over my shoulder, I might choose the Gibson because that's what clients expect. Kudos to the Indonesians who made this great guitar and kudos to Gibson for the "Inspiration".

This guitar looks, feels, and plays great. It's instantly recognizable as the sound of so many hit records. I like it more than than the $2500 acoustic I used to have. I'd definitely buy it again. One note - expect to do a set up on it, because the nut and bridge saddle are not set up from the factory. The bridge saddle had to be removed and filed down to get the action anywhere near acceptable up the neck. But I expect to have to do that on any new guitar (sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised and don't have to, but not often). Now it's perfect.

When I got this, the action was a little high for my liking. After getting it all set up, I was reminded why I'm
so impressed with the IBG and Masterbuilt lines of guitars. It's beautiful to look at, well-constructed and sounds so close to the Gibson version, it's not funny.
Easily one of my favorite guitars! I always wanted one, and now have one. Just didn't have to pay 4K for it.
Epiphone has put all their money into all the right things. Bone nut and saddle, ivory pins, solid Sitka top, solid
mahogany back and sides. It's all there. You won't be disappointed!
If you were going to complain about anything, probably could make an argument for replacing the bench strings.
With the course that Epiphone is on, they're headed back to the prominence they had before Gibson bought them and banished them into obscurity. But bless them for what they're doing with all the Masterbuilt and IBG lines.
They really are incredible guitars.

I have no idea how Epiphone is making money on these, but this is unquestionably the most outstanding guitar I've ever held or heard at this price point. I first started learning to play on a Fender acoustic that cost the same amount (adjusted for inflation) and that thing buzzed, popped and sounded so bad that for two years I didn't think I was making any progress as a guitarist. Seriously people, even if you have an acoustic in your collection this thing is a must have at this price point. It sounds great unplugged, sounds even better plugged into the Boss Singer Live acoustic amp and is the PERFECT instrument to have just sitting out and can grab when you need to practice or have a song idea you want to flesh out. Beautiful sound, beautiful finish on the instrument.

Thanks Aaron V. as always for the great service and walking it through the setup process.

One last thing, pair this guitar with some Martin medium MA550T strings and you get a bit of deeper boom on the low end.

Max Rapp and the Sweetwater staff did an amazing job in checking out the guitar and getting it to me in amazing speed. Packaging was superb and what I would expect. The Epiphone Hummingbird is an amazing looking and sounding guitar. I'm just a beginner but so far it sounds amazing. I only have one complaint. I spoke to a another Sweetwater customer who asked me if I got the "candy" that Sweetwater includes with purchases. No, I did not. Was I suppose to? No big deal. The service was great and the product is what I was hoping for.

This is the best purchase I have ever made for a guitar. Love it. Plays excellent and looks great.Nick was very helpful in the purchase. Whole team at Sweetwater does a fantastic job.

The Excellente I bought a couple months ago sold me on the IBG hummingbird. My problem now is which one do I pick up first. Took it to my guitar tech for a setup and string change, he said Epiphone is making Gibson guitars and putting Epiphone on the label. Would I buy a Gibson if I had the money? Sure I would, but I don't have the $$. I own a couple high end Taylor's and I'm happy to have them. Give Epiphone a good hard look. You'll discover why. If I had to pick a negative about Epiphone I guess it would have to be the weight. I play as a hobby and for the fun. I'm not standing on stage so the weight is a none issue with me. There is one thing I'm real picky about when I make the choice of which to choose from when I place the order, this must be a factory quality control thing, tuner placement on the head stock seems to vary from each guitar and that bothers me. Maybe it doesn't matter but it does to me. So, when you're saving big $$ you compromise a little. I really appreciate the photos that Sweetwater gives me to see. Some competitors give me a postage stamp size pic to look at.

This is a beautiful guitar. Sounds amazing too! It may not be quite as loud as my Martin DSS 17, but it's not far off and the tone is amazing. The build quality is very good also. When you hold it in your hands you know you're holding a quality instrument. Very happy with my purchase. Thank you Sweetwater!!!

I reviewed the guitar in an earlier post. At that time, I was having problems with fret buzz, however, after adjusting the truss rod a bit, I had almost eliminated it. Long story short, I decided to send the guitar back for a setup since I could not eliminate the buzzing entirely. Sweetwater determined that the neck angle on the guitar was off, so they replaced the guitar. They also performed the setup, replaced the factory strings with the type I prefer, and sent me an extra three pack of the stings I use; this was above and beyond customer service. I would not hesitate to buy another guitar from Sweetwater, nor would I hesitate to recommend the company. Incidentally, the guitar plays like a dream and sounds incredible. Special thanks to Justin Blackwell at the guitar workshop for his excellent communication.

After playing this thing on the job a couple nights, it's going into the rotation with my Martin RGHTE16 AND GIBSON J-45.
It's probably the best bang for the buck out there. The "Gibson inspired" line is definitely the best thing Epiphone has done in years. Not the real deal but so close, the price makes it a "No-brainer". It's a good quality guitar with a great sound. Special thanks to Jon Krempel for the great service, as usual.

I wasn't thrilled with this guitar when I received it, primarily because it had a good deal of fret buzz. I have finally adjusted the truss rod enough to eliminate most of the buzz, going slow, I may tweak it a bit more. The other change I've made is going to 10 gauge D'Addario XL strings, this has made an amazing difference in the sound, particularly in the low E which sounded muddy with he factory strings. I play finger-style and the lighter gauge strings are much better suited to my style. I am now very pleased with the sound and playability of the guitar. As to fit and finish, the guitar is very well-made, from what I can see. The mahogany on the back, sides and neck is absolutely stunning! I also love the way the vintage cherry sunburst accentuates the reddish hue of the mahogany sides, maybe I just got lucky, or they may all be finished that way. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another IBG Epiphone based on my experience with this one, I will probably keep it for a long time.

First ... Sweetwater got it to me super fast !!! Nothing new they are always the fastest with getting your gear to you.
Now on this Epiphine (Inpired By Gibson) Hummingbird. I had been looking for a addition to the acoustic guitar section
of my guitar collection... I already had a Martin 12 and a D'angelico Excel Grand Auditorium so I wanted something
different and always liked the Gibson Hummingbird but way to pricey at $, not spending that much on a
single guitar... However I have had issues with Epiphone in the past so I was skepical of Epiphone making a
Hummingbird worthy of $ with new case, so I watched videos and read lots of reviews and still felt like I
was taking a chance... Well' I'm surprised to say this is the best Epiphone Acoustic I have ever seen or played.
It looks amazing once I waxed and polished this guitar, looks just like the real thing.
And the set up was too high and the strings to heavy but I took the strings off, polished everything, removed saddle
took 16th of an inch off with sand paper, new Elixer 10-47 strings, adjusted the truss rod 3 clicks to the right,
put it all back together, re-polished again and Wow this looks great and plays like butter ... It a Keeper !!!
If you have never made adjustments to an acoustic guitar Trussrod, saddle or nut ... take it to a guitar repair guy,
but these are the things you need to do with almost any new guitar adjustments need to be made, hope you found this
review helpful ...

Hi Folks, It just doesn't get much better than this. How or why Gibson allowed this, still puzzles me to this day. I've played/owned a Gibson J-45 Regal, Gibson J-45, Gibson J200 Parlor and many other guitars. This IBG Hummingbird (that's what it is, not of the Masterbuilt, but of the Inspired by Gibson line) is one that I'll never, ever sell. I'll eat this guitar, literally, instead of selling it to eat. I think that's my full testimony of it. The clarity and bottom end will just knock your socks off. They could have listed this in the $3,000 range and I'd have coughed it up. I can't believe Gibson has allowed this.

I ordered my epiphone IGB hummingbird back in November and got it in April but I have to say it was really worth the wait and the price. Sounded great out of the box.What can I say I love this guitar! I also want to thank the guys at sweet water they were great even when I would call to check to see if the guitar had arrived yet. This one will be hard to keep in stock. Thanks again Jeff

I was reading a 2-page article in the current issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine comparing the Epiphone Hummingbird(inspired by Gibson) to the Gibson Hummingbird. The magazine said their survey of pricing for the Gibson Hummingbird was from $3000 to $9000.In the magazine, they said, "What's different about the Epiphone Hummingbird? NOT A LOT"!I have previously ordered 3 Epiphones from Sweetwater and like the quality and excellent service from Sweetwater! I placed an order for the Epiphone Hummingbird and Ben Elder expedited the order and I had it in one day! Thanks, Ben! It was in tune out of the box with a perfect set-up! The 1st thing I did was put my favorite strings on the guitar: Elixir Acoustic coated Medium 13-56 Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze string for volume, tone & playability and use a 127 mm pick. This is the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen and has the great dreadnaught bass sound with great midrange, treble & sustain! It also has the "fancy" Gibson tuners and the fancy pickguard! The real "magic" happens when you plug this guitar into an acoustic guitar amplifier! WOW! Crystal clear! SO EASY TO PLAY! This makes the 5th guitar I have purchased from Sweetwater & I say thank you Sweetwater for making me a very HAPPY CAMPER! (Also enjoyed the bag of candy in the box). THANK YOU, SWEETWATER! YOU ARE THE BEST!

Excellent..very happy. Was setup ready to go, even had a battery installed. Nice job Sweetwater!

i have owned the guitar for 8 months now, and it has a very warm and sweet tone, i have played a few gibson hummingbirds and they were ok ,but none of them really blew me away enough and lets be honest 90% of the hummingbirds appeal is the pickgaurd and the split block inlays which give the h/b its classic great looks, which the epi has and without going into all the little details the epi has a very very close overall tone to the gibson, the workmanship and materials are also very good, as is the playability and the combination of the gibson looks and affordable price make this a great deal for someone shopping for a all solid wood,bone nut/saddle guitar in the $ price range and the great looks put it over the edge,

I have an Inspired by Gibson Hummingbird from the Indonesia plant in Cherry burst. It is beautiful to look at, fairly "weighty" for an acoustic guitar. It feels very strong and well built. The grain in the spruce top is straight and narrow. The back and side wood is solid and very pretty. The tone seems to open up a bit each day that I own it. The tone is also balanced from string to string. I've owned a couple of Epiphone Masterbilt guitars,and I like this one better than those; this one feels more authentically Gibson-like. The neck is a good thickness. The nut string spacing is a bit on the narrow side but I'm getting used to it. The electronics controls are inside the sound hole, and it sounds very good when plugged in. I also own a Gibson G-45 Studio. The G-45 is quite light compared to this Hummingbird. Both are good in their own way.

This Inspired By Gibson -serie of Epiphone Hummingbird is simply amazing. The packet says it is a Masterbilt but that is not printed anywhere on the guitar. Sound is very close to the Gibson Hummingbird but of course Gibson still has that little of something that makes it 10-15% better but this time Epi got really close. For the price... build and sound quality is awesome and it's easy to play. Tried three different guitars and QC seems to be very good at the Epiphone Indonesia factory becouse there was hardly any difference in them. Simply love this guitar and I'm not surprised that you can find so many praising reviews in YouTube about it.

I always wanted a Gibson Hummingbird but could never afford it. I wanted one as a memory for a very good friend of mine. When Epiphone upgraded some of their acoustic guitars(the Hummingbird was one of them) I had to make the purchase. I live in the Chicago area and I have many music stores to purchase from, but not one of them could match the service and professionalism of Sweetwater. The guitar arrived very well packed. Everything was to manufacturer specs as I expected. I do like a lower string action so I will visit my luthier after I play the guitar for a couple of months. One last thing, my sales rep for this are is one of the best I have dealt with. All I need to do now is someday visit Sweetwater in Indiana.

There are two ways to evaluate this guitar (writing here not as a working musician, but as a hobbyist/enthusiast):

1. On its own merits: I find this guitar to be excellent. You have the resonance, depth, and volume that you'd expect with a solid wood guitar. The tone is even, from bass to treble. I'm a strummer primarily, and this sounds great as a rhythm guitar, but the few leads/bass runs I can do sound good as well.

2. As a Hummingbird/Gibson competitor...I couldn't ask for more. I own and love a 2012 Hummingbird, and this new one is close enough in tone and feel. Can recommend! Go for it!

Ok…. Two days later …. After a small neck adjustment and putting it side by side my Gibson hummingbird…. I have to admit I was wrong. This thing isn't just pretty good. It's amazing. And for the money it's super amazing. Let's put it this way.. if this thing is NOT amazing.. then neither is my hummingbird.. and it's the best acoustic I own.

As for the pickup., it's not nearly as good as the LR Baggs in my Gibson. Bit for a backup and for alternate tunings, it's one BEAST of a deal.

I've looked at the J-45EC, J-45 and Slash J-45 and I prefer the Hummingbird the most of any of the Masterbilt/Inspired line. I'm not interested in the size of the J-200 or the bling of the Excellente models but I would buy an Excellente if I found one that blew me away. I just have not seen one in person yet. The Frontier is a maple, and the Texan has the 3 on a plate tuners, the sunburst is meh and I don't prefer that headstock shape on both of those models. Therefore, the Hummingbird is "just right" with the right wood combination, good tuners that can be easily changed in the future if needed, a comfortable standard C shaped neck and a beautiful burst or natural finish to choose from. It also seemed like it was made of better materials than either J-45EC or J-45 and did not give me that "plastic" feeling. I'm assuming the Texan and Frontier would be similar to the J-45's I didn't care for but I don't know that for certain. I've not seen either one in person. The Hummingbird was more on the level of the Slash model J-45. If the Slash had a standard C neck, I'd buy one of those right now. It's the only thing I didn't care for about that model. The Standard J-45 and J-45EC gave me a plastic feeling and they both sounded muffled and stiff. The EC also had a very large neck on it similar to a 58 Les Paul. I also really don't like the 3 on a plate tuners. Too hard to upgrade or replace later and they are not great quality even when new so that would happen sooner or later. The Slash J-45 I played seemed to be built from better wood, with better fit and finish and did not give me that "plastic" impression AT ALL. That guitar was light, woody, and really sung! Unfortunately I did not like the neck profile which is a very large V shape. Apparently this was a "60's J-45" thing. I saw a custom shop Gibson 60's J-45 a couple days later with a similar neck but the Slash version was significantly larger. Therefore, the Hummingbird to me is the overall winner. I never appreciated Gibson acoustics until I really dug into this line. I just never cared for the way they look but they have really grown on me, even the Hummingbird which I previously thought was too gaudy. I plan to be patient and find the best Inspired Hummingbird I can find, and eventually look for the Gibson J-45 that can blows it away. I should mention I played four GIBSON J-45's recently too. The $850 Hummingbird was easily better than one of them when played side by side. It was maybe preferable to another I played 2 days later. The other two J-45's were definitely better than that one Hummingbird I played but this gives you some idea how great these guitars are for $850! All guitars at any price need to be played in person. They vary, it's just a fact. A great example of an inexpensive guitar can beat a mediocre example of a custom shop guitar. If you know what you're doing you can find stellar guitars at any price.

Little heavy

Somebody asked me what guitar was on some of our early recordings and it was a three-quarter size import copy of a Gibson hummingbird. At the same time, I was looking for a travel guitar with built in electronics For performing in writing. Be careful if you have to change the battery where it's dark.

Acoustic wise it sounds dead- almost like it's dampened.
I'm wondering if the onboard electronics are killing the tone.
I thought maybe it was the strings-it wasn't (I changed them)
It's well made, action is fine , doesn't fret buzz
Just has no volume (when played unplugged)
And therefore I personally do not enjoy playing it
I'd put the value of this guitar at around $300+
I've been playing guitar for a long time -
trust me on this
It ain't worth it